


Beneath the Moonlit Sky

by EyePhoenix



Series: Fox’s Whumptober 2020-2021 (using the wrong prompt list because I was late to the party and couldn't do it in one year because my life is a mess) [3]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Emotional Hurt, Gen, Marilith, Nightmares, No Beta, Whumptober, emotional hurt!Noctis, slight comfort?, whumptober day three: Insomnia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-03
Updated: 2020-10-03
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:22:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,443
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26792095
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EyePhoenix/pseuds/EyePhoenix
Summary: After being haunted by an old memory, Noctis struggles to sleep while on the road.Whumptober day three: Insomnia.
Series: Fox’s Whumptober 2020-2021 (using the wrong prompt list because I was late to the party and couldn't do it in one year because my life is a mess) [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1957420
Kudos: 27





	Beneath the Moonlit Sky

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome back to the wrong Whumptober prompt list because Fox is a moron! 
> 
> I apologise in advance for any mistakes in this fic. 
> 
> I do not own any characters, themes or scenes from Final Fantasy XV, these all belong to Square Enix, please support the official release! 
> 
> I hope you guys enjoy~!
> 
> ~Fox xx

Noctis took a sharp, inward breath as he abruptly sat upright and stared about himself wildly. 

He was drenched in sweat that had quickly turned cold and chilled him to the bone. His breaths came in erratic gasps, his chest already ached from the deep heaves and his body trembled uncontrollably.

He raised his quivering arms to rest his head in his hands and drew his knees close to his chest as he closed his eyes and tried to calm himself. 

Behind his eyelids, he saw the twisted image of the daemon who had haunted him since his childhood and had recently returned to plague his subconscious mind. A huge, blue-skinned woman with a serpentine body, she wielded a blade in each of her six hands and thrashed her tail like a whip threateningly. Even in his mind, he could vividly see the bloodthirsty grin that spread across her face as her cold, beady eyes locked onto her target.

_ Marilith. _

With another jolt, Noctis’ eyes flew open. 

His back and left knee seemed to give a small twitch at the thought of the daemon. 

He slowly lifted his head from his hands and cast his eyes around the darkness within the tent, he felt a small wave of relief wash over him as he noted the presence of Ignis, Gladio and Prompto nearby. He was surprised, but glad, that his abrupt awakening hadn’t disturbed his friends. Noctis was sure that if they had known about his nightmares and the sudden reemergence of Marilith’s affect on his mental state, they would begin to worry, and the last thing Noctis wanted to do was to cause anymore concern to his friends amid the news of Insonmia’s fall after Niflheim’s attack. They were already on edge with the sudden presence of magitek troopers patrolling around Leide, Noctis didn’t want to be a burden to them, especially over something as trivial as a couple of nightmares. 

With a weary sigh, Noctis let himself fall back on his pillows and stared up at the canopy of the tent while he tried to clear his mind and ease himself back to sleep. 

He tossed and turned from side to side, but found that as soon as he was able to find a comfortable position, his mind would conjure up another vivid memory from Marilith’s attack. He shook his head in an attempt to get rid of the image and tried to force himself to think about something else.

Anything else. 

He felt as though he had been lying awake for hours, cycling through the plot of his favourite movies and comics, trying to recall a happier memory, and mentally noting the different types of fishing lures he owned, but nothing seemed to work. 

He quickly became frustrated and resigned to the fact that he was in for another sleepless night. 

Noctis climbed out of his sleeping bag, being careful to move slowly enough so that he didn’t disturb his three friends, before he crawled to the tent’s entrance. He unzipped the tent door as quietly as he could, pausing when he heard Ignis shuffle behind him, and clambered out of the tent. 

He gave a small hiss through gritted teeth as his feet connected with the cold stone ground of the haven. 

He reached into the tent one last time to grab his jacket and check on his friends, ensuring that none of them had woken up in his departure, before he zipped the tent door shut again.

Noctis approached the cluster of camping chairs that had been positioned around the small fire pit in the centre of the haven, he was relieved to see hot embers glowing in the fire pit. 

Noctis set his jacket down on the nearest camping chair before he then set about gathering the rest of the firewood and kindling that Gladio had collected earlier that day to revive the fire. 

As soon as he was happy with the renewed fire, Noctis returned to his full height and retrieved the jacket from the camping chair. He pushed his arms through the sleeves of the jacket and pulled the fabric closer to his body in an attempt to retain some of the little warmth he had left before he started restlessly pacing around the haven. He only paused in his pacing to cast a fugitive glance towards the dark expanse beyond the haven. 

With another weary sigh, Noctis tilted his head back to look at the sky above. 

The moon shone bright, suspended over an inky backdrop that was littered with pinpricks of light that seemed to dance on the spot.

Something about the night sky made him feel nostalgic, but Noctis couldn’t quite put his finger on it. 

He felt a small smile play on his lips as he gave a low hum. 

“You can definitely see more stars out here than you can in the crown city.” Noctis murmured to himself. “I wonder if dad ever got to see the sky like this too.” 

He felt a pang of guilt in his chest and his stomach lurch uncomfortably at the thought of his father.

“... dad.” 

He felt his eyes begin to sting as they threatened to well up with tears as the smiling face of his father came to the front of his mind. 

A loud screech echoed across the grounds, forcibly jerking Noctis from his musings with a startled jump and making him twirl around on the spot to stare off in the direction that the noise had come from as panic coursed through his body again. 

He carefully surveyed a rocky formation in the distance.

His breath hitched as he caught a glimpse of something moving between the large boulders in the moonlight. 

He couldn’t help but give a small flinch and tightly clench his fists as another shrill scream emitted from somewhere closer this time. 

“It’s probably just a sabertusk.” Noctis tried to reason with himself in a whispered voice. “I’m just overthinking because of the nightmares, it’s just a sabertusk.” 

He was sure he heard something slithering across the ground nearby, he clasped his hands over his ears to block out the sound and shook his head. 

“It’s not her. It’s not her. She’s not here.” Noctis repeated the words to himself over and over again.

He wanted to run. 

He wanted to find somewhere to hide.

He wanted his dad to come and save him again. 

His eyes slowly slid over to the Regalia. He could just see the sleek, black car parked beneath the bright streetlight on the road. It seemed so far away so far away in the dark, but Noctis was almost tempted to face bloodthirsty daemons just to curl up in the backseat and feel the remnants of his father’s protection.

_ “Noctis, look up at the sky!”  _

The voice of a young girl resounded in his head.

He forced himself to comply with her request, casting his eyes towards the sky again.

_ “It’s so beautiful tonight.”  _

Noctis’ breathing started to ease and he slowly lifted his hands away from his ears. 

“Luna?” He called out uncertainty. 

_ “That’s right!”  _

He could almost see the blonde haired girl wearing a white dress in his head nodding at him with a kind smile. 

_ “Just like the moon!” _

He slowly recalled the memory. 

When they were young, Lunafreya had taken Noctis to a field of vibrant blue flowers in his wheelchair to show him the stars. From what he could remember, it was the first time he had managed to pronounce her name correctly. 

_ “Do you know what that means? It means every time you see the moon at night, I’ll be watching over you and protecting you, Noctis.”  _

He remembered the kind smile that she had offered him when she had said those words and felt a calm warmth wash over him. 

His gaze dropped down to the haven’s ground. 

The runes that had been carved into the stone gave off a blue glow, reminding Noctis of the oracle’s protection. He slid off of his chair to kneel on the ground and run his hand over the grooves of one of the runes that seemed to glow brighter under his touch. 

“Thank you, Luna.”

* * *

It wasn’t until the sun started to slowly creep over the horizon at four o’clock in the morning that Noctis felt reassured enough to return to the tent. He finally crawled back inside and quietly slid into his sleeping bag where he laid back against his pillow and listened to the sound of Ignis, Gladio and Prompto’s rhythmic breathing until he finally succumbed to his exhaustion and let himself drift off to sleep. 


End file.
